


come meet the angels where they fell (the world is dancing so you might as well)

by Coal_burningbright



Category: H.I.V.E. Series - Mark Walden
Genre: Child neglect (mentioned), Eating Disorders, Elemental Magic, Gen, H.I.V.E. is still a villain school, Laura Brand has autism, So much trauma, Trauma, Wing Fanchu has Adhd, internalized ableism, just everyone there also has elemental powers, none of these kids are neurotypical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29085480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coal_burningbright/pseuds/Coal_burningbright
Summary: Otto was born with lightning in his fingertips and electricity buzzing like bees in his bones. As he grew older Otto sparked with intelligence, yes, but he also had lightning in him, fierce and sharp and unforgivingWing was born full of wind and rain and sleet and he pushed it down and told himself to be still as the water. Wing trained in martial arts and the way energy flows through people and he felt his own energy gusting inside of him and he bit back his anger and tried to force it to flow like the ocean.Laura Brand was born with air in her lungs and in every other inch of her too. Laura couldn’t control her feelings and couldn’t control the winds that blew her hair and so she let it fly free and always had tangled hair.Shelby Trinity was born with a fever that scared the doctors until they finally decided she must just run hot. Shelby learned to pick locks and move silently and let the gnawing in her ribs feel like accomplishment and like fitting through a vent instead of feeling like the fire in her was too much and she was burning down to a speck of ash floating in the breeze.
Relationships: Laura Brand & Otto Malpense, Laura Brand & Shelby Trinity, Otto Malpense & Shelby Trinity, Wing Fanchu & Otto Malpense, Wing Fanchu & Shelby Trinity
Kudos: 9





	come meet the angels where they fell (the world is dancing so you might as well)

**Author's Note:**

> Some content may be triggering so please don't read if you think it'll be hard for you  
> Title from After All by the Altogether

Otto Malpense was born with lightning in his fingertips and electricity buzzing like bees in his bones. When Ms. McReedy picked up the little white-haired baby off her doorstep she got an electric shock- she dismissed it as a product of the still night air. As he grew older Otto sparked with intelligence, yes, but he also had lightning in him, fierce and sharp and unforgiving. He had a spark in him and as he grew older it became evident in how his hair stuck up from static electricity and how he blackmailed anyone who got in the way of his learning.

Wing Fanchu was born full of wind and rain and sleet and he pushed it down and told himself to be still as the water. He took deep breaths in and out and imagined a stream flowing through him. _Be still, Wing_ he reminded himself time and time again. _Be still_. Wing trained in martial arts and the way energy flows through people and he felt his own energy gusting inside of him and he bit back his anger and tried to force it to flow like the ocean.

Laura Brand was born with air in her lungs and in every other inch of her too. Sometimes, when she got too excited while coding, gusts of wind would burst from her fingers and push the keys before her hand could touch. Once her room became a whirlwind while she worked, little gusts of wind combining and swirling to knock books off shelves and lift her homework that was lying on the floor and sweep it around before settling on the floor again. Laura couldn’t control her feelings and couldn’t control the winds that blew her hair and so she let it fly free and always had tangled hair.

Shelby Trinity was born with a fever that scared the doctors until they finally decided she must just run hot. Her parents weren’t there the first time she accidentally lit a doll's hair on fire, and her shocked nanny knew better than to call them over anything less than a death. Shelby went to parkour and learned to glide through the air and felt a fire burning within her. She needed to look perfect, and perfect meant well dressed and skinny and happy so she pasted a smile on her face and stopped eating for as long as she could so that the burning in her body would let her feel something. Shelby broke into places and then got out again with what she came for and all she left was a half-burned piece of paper bearing her insignia. They dubbed her the wraith and that felt right because she was a ghost in her house and a ghost in her bones. Shelby learned to pick locks and move silently and let the gnawing in her ribs feel like accomplishment and like fitting through a vent instead of feeling like the fire in her was too much and she was burning down to a speck of ash floating in the breeze.

In every universe Wing met Otto on a helicopter over the ocean and that was true in this one too. The ocean was a domain neither of them would fit in even if they tried and Wing told himself to be like the water below and to be calm and Otto sparked a bit. Wing and Otto still entered the enormous steel doors and saw the sign reading “Do Onto Others”. None of that changed because of their powers, though Otto did accidentally shock Wing, just a little.

Nero is dramatic in every universe too, with a flair for theatrics and a gift for commanding the attention of the room. Nero gave his speech about how they demonstrated not only abilities that set them apart from the masses with their powers, but also by having a talent for villainy. Nero told the students he wanted them to flourish and then rose up and up and up to show the full scale of the school. He also shot off some lightning for the dramatic effect. 

Contessa clicked play and the video told them that H.I.V.E. was a home away from home, which really meant they couldn’t leave, and that here they could learn and grow and come into their true potential. She played a video telling them they were here to learn and to do great things and all of the students thought that they didn’t want to do great things, they just wanted their normal lives back.

Wing raised his hand to ask why they couldn’t go home because Wing in every universe is full of bravado and then he asked more questions until the Contessa made him stop in a way that made him feel his mind was not his own and Wing, Wing already felt like that every day, his mind too racing and full of swirling thoughts and storms and never the calm still water he wanted. 

Otto asked if anyone had ever escaped because he too was full of bravado and the knowledge he had managed to get himself out of every scrape he had been in so far, and then his mind was blank with no other questions left and Otoo’s mind was the thing he valued most in the world so this hurt and a little spark ran over his skin, wanting something to bite into.

Shelby asked if everyone had to wear the jumpsuits because they looked big and unflattering and inefficient and also because how would anyone ever ~~love~~ respect her if she did not look perfect.

Laura asked about the streams because when she was in a new environment she needed to research, to know everything about everything so she felt a little less like a lonely gust of wind blowing on a foreign mountain. 

They met H.I.V.E. Mind and Laura wanted to talk to him for hours because she’d never managed to connect with other people and here was someone (or something) with whom she could actually hold a conversation.

Otto was still focused on escape, but not too focused to ask H.I.V.E. Mind if he was happy, because maybe an unhappy AI would be an asset but also for another reason that Otto would never admit to himself but that went something like _We both have lightning for blood and my brain works more like a computer than a mind and if H.I.V.E. Mind is like me but is still happy then maybe there’s something I’m doing wrong_. 

Otto put on his new uniform and then was told H.I.V.E. Mind wasn’t happy and he did not understand why he felt so relieved until he justified it as an unsatisfied AI would be useful. 

Shelby was out of her depth and out of her clothes and she could feel her skin so she complained. Better to complain and be underestimated and play into a stereotype than to have to take off her mask, because under her mask Shelby was ugly and dark and cruel like fire and she could only leave destruction in her wake. 

The Contessa played with her mind and her mind was already her worst enemy and twisting her world around her but Shelby still felt a bit of bile rise to her throat and panic shrinking her lungs because she had so little control as it was and she _needed_ to have something to hold on to.

Then it was lunch and the four met (plus Nigel and Franz who are important too) and Nigel talked about his dad for as short a period as he could while Shelby poked at the food they made her take and pretended to be too full of questions to be hungry. Otto looked at Shelby like she was hiding something and she didn't know what to hope he saw through. 

All of them agreed they had no reason to have been sent there, though they all knew their own truths. In this new land information was currency and they had not quite decided if these were the friends they should buy. 

They got their blackboxes and it seemed they no longer had to decide if they wanted to be friends because if you’re rooming together it was probably easier to get along, though they all still guarded their secrets of course. 

The textbooks they received were unlike any books you could find on the mainland but when in H.I.V.E. books like _A beginner's guide to doomsday weapons_ and _Use your elemental powers like a pro! p_ robably fit with the curriculum better than an advanced math book someone might find at home. 

Otto roped Wing into his plans to escape, not because he needed a friend of course, but because they’d worked well together at lunch. And maybe because friends are useful. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a comment or kudos if you liked it, it would mean the world to me


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